Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Chris Oladokun (19) passes during the second quarter against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Why Chiefs Could Save Christmas With an Upset Win

Originally posted on Kansas City Chiefs on SI
By Michael Canelo | Last updated Dec 24, 2025 11:00 AM ET

The Kansas City Chiefs find themselves on the other side of things this season. With the Chiefs not being in the playoffs and nothing to play for beyond the regular season, they will look to play spoiler to their AFC West rival, the Denver Broncos, on Christmas Day.

The Chiefs will host the Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium, and they could be looking at a Christmas miracle if they could pull off one of the biggest upsets in the NFL this season.

Before the start of the season, everyone had this game circled on their calendars, not just because it was the Chiefs, but because this game was supposed to be bigger for both teams. Now it is only big for the Broncos because they are in the playoffs and looking to win the AFC West this season. Someone new will be taking the crown from the Chiefs this season in their division. In this game, they will make sure to put the Broncos in a tougher spot so they can pull the upset.

Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Chiefs on the opposite side, Look for Upset

This game does not have the hype that last year's Christmas Day game had. The same goes for the other two games that are going to be played on Christmas. Now the Chiefs are going into this game as underdogs and with their third string quarterback getting the first start of his career. That is going to make it even harder for this team to win, but they could do other things to help the young quarterback in this one. Well will see if the Chiefs are able to pull it out on Christmas.

At least the NFL saved the worst for last. The Chiefs are on prime time a lot, and love them or hate them, they usually put on a good show. That was before Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL. Gardner Minshew II didn’t even last a half in his first start last week, replacing Mahomes before he suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Next man up is presumably Chris Oladokun, a 2022 seventh-round pick who, before Minshew’s injury last Sunday, had only taken a few snaps in the NFL. While it’s a great opportunity for a player who has spent most of his career on practice squads, it’s hard to see him keeping the Chiefs competitive against a very good Broncos defense. The Chiefs are a 13-point underdog, the largest spread they’ve faced since 1977. You don’t even have to feign enthusiasm for this one.

Of the six teams playing on Christmas, the Broncos are the one that actually has a realistic postseason goal in front of it.

This article first appeared on Kansas City Chiefs on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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